Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

The first attempt was a failure.

”Is it impossible, Junior Brother?”

I went down underground, planted my palm on the dirt floor, and tried to picture the scene of putting all of White Night City into Dokmul-hyang in one go.

But nothing happened.

The energy that should have spread out from my fingertips didn’t so much as twitch, only settling quietly into stillness.

Thinking it might be because of interference from the barrier, I went outside the city gates and tried again.

But it was still the same.

I couldn’t feel even the slightest sign of space writhing.

And yet, strangely, it didn’t feel completely impossible.

It felt like I hadn’t grasped the core of this ability.

A vague sensation lingered.

Rather than “impossible,” it felt like I wasn’t properly catching the ability’s point.

If I realized just that one thing, it felt like I’d succeed in an instant.

”Senior Sister, if there’s an empty house inside the city, could I try putting just one in separately?”

”Mong-a?”

”This way, Elder.”

At Senior Sister’s request, Chief Steward Mong-a led the way and guided us.

A moment later, we arrived.

An old wooden door creaked as it opened, and an empty courtyard compound appeared in front of me, dust puffing faintly into the air.

I carefully reached out my hand and focused my will on pushing that entire house into Dokmul-hyang.

This time, it was different.

Space rippled slightly, and the courtyard compound blurred and vanished, then immediately revealed itself anew inside Dokmul-hyang.

I could even adjust its position minutely exactly the way I wanted.

It was the same when pulling it back out.

It returned to reality with ease.

I repeated putting in and taking out an even bigger two-story house, a courtyard compound with a garden spread wide, even a small building.

All of it succeeded.

But I couldn’t put in two houses at the same time.

”I don’t think it’s because of size.”

”Yes. It feels like there’s a condition for what goes in.”

”Yeah. That’s what it feels like.”

I closed my eyes for a moment and chewed over the common point among everything that had succeeded so far.

”Hm. It’s not size, and I could even put in a courtyard compound... Huh? Don’t tell me?”

”Did something occur to you, Junior Brother?”

”Yeah. I need to go to the city wall!”

A hypothesis suddenly flashed through my head.

A connector.

It felt like a standalone house didn’t work, but something connected—connected by walls or flooring—did.

I hurried to the city wall.

When I got there, I put my hand on it and tried thinking about putting it in.

-Wooong.

The city wall blurred as if flickering, vanished, then reappeared.

That was because I put it in and yanked it back out right away.

Did it feel like it disappeared here and I canceled it before it could be created inside?

I’d quickly put it in and pulled it out just in case something went wrong here or inside.

And if it’s one thing or another, isn’t putting things in and pulling them back out what I’m a specialist in now?

‘Come on. My experience points aren’t a joke anymore.’

”Was it a success?”

”I put it in and pulled it out fast, but if the whole wall goes in, then size doesn’t seem to be the problem. But is there another condition besides a connector?”

It felt like a half-success.

A structure as large as the city wall worked, but the problem was that the buildings inside still seemed impossible.

Everything in the city besides the wall was unchanged.

”A connector?”

”Yes. A standalone house doesn’t work, but something connected—connected by walls, flooring, a foundation—seems to go in all at once.”

”Ah... That’s true. The house with the garden had the ground and the walls connected.”

”Right.”

”Then is the whole city impossible?”

A hint of disappointment seeped into Senior Sister’s voice.

Of course, even if it couldn’t be done, it wasn’t like there was no method at all.

I could go around the city myself and put the buildings in one by one, separately.

Now that I knew houses worked regardless of size, I could carefully think about where they’d appear inside, put in the city wall first, then steadily put in the houses and structures one at a time.

It would take some time, though.

As I was about to say that, Chief Steward Mong-a cautiously opened her mouth.

”Um, then... what about trying a magic treasure?”

”A magic treasure?”

”The magic treasure the Elder in charge of the barrier made. Since it contains everything inside the barrier...”

At those words, my head lit up.

If connection really was the condition,

then what if I used, as a medium, that magic treasure that bound all of White Night City into a single enormous connected body through the Law Arts barrier?

That would be no different from being perfectly connected by Law Arts.

Then that magic treasure would be the central axis binding all of White Night City into one.

It was worth trying.

”Oh. That’s worth a shot.”

There was the method of putting everything in one by one, but if it could be done easily in one go, it was better to use that.

It saved effort.

I ran straight to the place where my Master’s true-body magic treasure was, the one I’d seen before.

When I got there, what caught my eye was my Master’s flying dagger embedded in a rock.

I carefully placed my hand on that dagger and thought—not about putting this magic treasure in, but about putting everything that included this magic treasure into my Dokmul-hyang.

‘Not this magic treasure itself—bring all of White Night City, including this magic treasure, into my Dokmul-hyang.’

Then the surroundings blurred, like me inside Dokmul-hyang, and soon brightened again.

It felt like a huge amount of energy got sucked out of me in one go.

”Did it work!?”

Senior Sister shouted in a happy voice.

Since it looked the same as when I put the city wall in and pulled it out earlier, she probably thought it succeeded.

But it hadn’t.

With the city wall, I’d put it in and pulled it out right away, but this felt like it couldn’t go in because it overloaded.

It felt like my realm was lacking.

Up to now, I hadn’t noticed because I’d only been putting in small things, but putting in something big seemed to require a lot of energy.

I scratched my head and said,

”No. I think it failed.”

”Failed? It looked the same as earlier.”

”Earlier, I put it in and pulled it out right away. This time, it felt like I couldn’t put it in because my energy was insufficient.”

”Ah... Then White Night City is too much. It can’t be helped. I’ll pick out only the people and buildings we need.”

Since it seemed impossible, Senior Sister said she’d just choose only the people and buildings we needed.

But it felt a little wrong to give up like this.

A thick regret clung to Senior Sister’s voice.

And I didn’t want to give up either.

That feeling just now.

I’d definitely gotten right up to the threshold.

The trembling of that razor-thin boundary—like I could cross it if I took just one more step—was still clinging to my fingertips.

It felt like it would be possible if I raised my realm by just one step.

I asked Senior Sister with a serious face.

”No. I’m going to try again, and if it’s still impossible, then we’ll think about it then. But if it might be possible, could you prepare just one residence with a soft bed for me?

Somewhere with few people around, and where sound won’t carry out well?”

When I listed several conditions, Senior Sister and Chief Steward Mong-a both tilted their heads.

Senior Sister tilted her head and asked,

”Why do you need a residence like that?”

It seemed she was curious since I’d suddenly asked her to prepare a residence.

”Putting in and pulling out—no, I mean, t-training. I’m going to train.”

”Train?”

I’d almost misspoken after thinking about putting in and pulling out, so I wiped cold sweat off my forehead and explained.

”Yes, Senior Sister. I’m not far from the next realm, so I think if I train and raise my realm by one step, it might work. So I’m going to train.”

Even after I explained, Senior Sister still wore an expression like she didn’t understand.

”That’s fascinating. I’ve never heard of someone training inside a residence before.”

At that, I smiled awkwardly.

Putting in and pulling out... No, in the refined expression of this world, it was dual cultivation training.

To be honest, my personal growth doesn’t rise quickly just from dual cultivation.

It rises faster when the realms of the registered spirit creatures increase, or when I register new spirit creatures.

So the plan was to raise all my wives’ realms through dual cultivation first, and if that didn’t work, register the spirit creature kids who still weren’t registered, and raise my realm by one step quickly.

If I did that, I felt like I could climb at least one step fast.

But I couldn’t exactly tell Senior Sister—who’d been single for hundreds of years—that I was going to do dual cultivation, so all I could do was laugh awkwardly.

”Ahaha. Well, th-there are all kinds of training.”

***

First, I borrowed a quiet residence in the underground of the Blood Market Tower’s main base.

It was a space originally designed as a panic room for emergencies, completely cut off from the outside.

No one would come looking, and thanks to thick stone walls and a special barrier, it thoroughly blocked not only sound but even leakage of energy.

No sound, no energy, would leak out.

There was no better place than this for dual cultivation training to raise my wives’ realms.

As we stepped into the residence, Senior Sister followed all the way to the end and gave me this and that advice.

Worry and expectation were mixed together in her voice.

”Junior Brother, people will stand guard upstairs. For now, I’ll be stocking up White Night City’s supplies. If you succeed, come find me.”

”Understood, Senior Sister.”

But at the end of her sentence, Senior Sister made a strange request.

”By the way, I’m really curious what kind of training you’re doing in a residence. It doesn’t seem like a secret legacy my father left behind... Could I learn it too?

I’ve always wanted, at least once, to properly learn the Central Plains’ martial arts.”

”Uh, th-that...”

She didn’t know I was going to do dual cultivation with my wives, and she said she wanted to learn too.

When I stammered in flustered confusion, Senior Sister’s face began to darken with disappointment.

A shadow of disappointment flickered across her face.

She lowered her head slightly and murmured apologetically.

”Ah. The Central Plains’ martial arts aren’t something you teach to just anyone, right? I’m sorry, Junior Brother.”

At her words, I shouted in a panic.

”I-I’ll teach you.”

”Really?”

”Y-yes. Of course.”

”Promise, Junior Brother.”

”O-of course.”

Of course, I wasn’t planning to teach her dual cultivation.

I was thinking I’d just teach her some martial art I knew, or ask Gun Hye-rin to share one useful thing.

Dual cultivation with Senior Sister?

Just imagining it made my head spin.

It felt like the family tree would get tangled like crazy.

‘Just thinking about it is horrifying.’

After carefully sending Senior Sister away, I locked the door.

Then I slowly sat down on the bed.

The bed’s springy resilience softly cradled my body.

Just as I’d asked, the bed had been prepared thick and soft.

It was a comfort that felt like my body was melting right into it.

First, I called Mongyeong out and asked him to cast the Law Arts I used instead of bathing when I was at the secret ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) hermitage of Black Night Palace.

It was the kind of Law Arts where, if you used it instead of bathing, your body got clean, and when you were too lazy to bathe, this was the best.

And as planned, I called Hwa-eun out.

‘Hwa-eun, you can come out.’

‘Okay!’

As if she’d been waiting, Hwa-eun popped out in an instant.

The moment she appeared, she rushed at me and hugged me tight.

”Husband!”

”Hwa-eun.”

Last time, I’d tried to share dual cultivation with Hwa-eun, but Myoran showed up and it got smoothed over, and it had been delayed all the way until now.

It seemed Hwa-eun had been waiting for this moment for quite a long time.

The sticky affection in the arms wrapping around me came through plainly.

Her moist skin I could feel.

And the faint scent of incense.

It seemed she’d even bathed before coming.

It felt like all preparations were already finished.

I took one mid-grade spirit stone I’d brought from Jeokmul-do and put it into Hwa-eun’s mouth, then I ate one of the same thing myself.

Dual cultivation itself isn’t a big help to me, but it was for Hwa-eun’s benefit.

Then I took a mouthful of spirit liquor and let it flow into Hwa-eun’s mouth.

-Gulp. Gulp.

Hwa-eun’s slender throat bobbed in a steady rhythm.

The sound of it going down her throat echoed faintly through the quiet residence.

Soon, hot breath leaked out from Hwa-eun’s lips.

”Haa...”

Her cheeks flushed red, and an even more alluring, dreamlike atmosphere drifted through the air.

Moist heat gathered in her eyes, and her lips trembled slightly, parted.

I slowly wrapped my arms around her waist and continued the dual cultivation method, and then—

At the intense moment when our energies mixed,

I realized something was strange.

Whether the efficiency was high, or whether our compatibility was good, Hwa-eun’s realm had been advancing too—into the Life-and-Death Realm, that is, the Golden Core Stage.

But the moment she stepped into the entrance of the Golden Core Stage, poisonous energy burst out of her body and began to wrap around her.

Just like with Gun Hye-rin.

”No, this isn’t even demonic energy?”

I was thinking how strange it was that it wasn’t demonic energy, when something I’d once heard from Zihwa came back to me.

”Poisonous energy is also a kind of yao energy.”

Poisonous energy was also a kind of yao energy, and yao energy was one of the energies that changed the body, along with demonic energy.

”Huhhhk!”

I probably didn’t change because I cultivated poison arts and the Heavenly-Heart Lotus-Venom Utopia Map, but Hwa-eun had only cultivated poison arts, so as she entered the Golden Core Stage—where the body changes—it seemed her body was changing in response to yao energy.

‘No, p-pure is not bad either, but...’

I couldn’t just be happy like with Gun Hye-rin.

This time, unlike with Gun Hye-rin, it didn’t seem like something I could choose—it felt like a random change.

And among yao beasts, there were animals with fur.

”Please...”

I prayed earnestly that it wouldn’t be something weird.